He loved to read and regularly went to watch and analyze films, developing a deep passion for reading and writing. Later on, he ran off with his high school sweetheart, Norma Faye Haxbe, and they gave birth to "three children; Jed, Zane, and Shannon" (Wikipedia). Ken Kesey graduated from the University of Oregon with a Master's degree in speech and communication, "On graduating he won a scholarship to Stanford" (Books and Writers). Unfortunately, he ruined the opportunity by dropping out. He began pursuing his love for writing and he wrote many books, but not many of them became very prosperous. With failure after failure he became very disappointed, as if his whole life compiled into one huge mistake. He started experimenting with a plethora of narcotics, but he never knew that the drugs he took would turn his whole world upside down. Surprisingly, the use of chemical substances enhanced his writing, and also inspired him to compose the book One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest; he took a leap of faith simply experimenting with drugs, but wound up with probably one of the greatest novels ever written.
Ken Kesey, well-known for composing the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, worked in extremely unorthodox conditions, but still had the capability to embed a deep and powerful message within the book. He wrote the novel while working in a mental institution and became inspired by his surroundings, leading to why the book took place in a psychiatric hospital. He took an exorbitant amount of harmful substances such as: mescaline, amphetamines, magic mushroom capsules, and LSD. The narcotics basically fried his brain, changing him and his perspective on life. Under the influence of LSD, Kesey was able to write the book unaware that it would change the rest of his life for the better. The novel is narrated by "Chief Bromden, a paranoid schizophrenic, who is six feet, eight inches tall, a half-American Indian" (Books and Writers).
